Kalepa (Help)
by seaofmidnight
Summary: What if Ian hadn't just demanded 100 million dollars? What if he had demanded that Grover hand over Five-0 too? The BAU and NCIS:LA team join up to help find their missing comrades but not all is as it seems... More characters than listed.
1. chapter 1

**Don't own any of the characters. They belong to their respective creators.**

"I've changed my mind." Ian said as soon as I picked up. "If you want to see your daughter again, you will bring me Five-0, completely incapacitated, and my money in a standard issue SWAT truck. When I see that it's done, I'll give you your daughter. You have two hours."

I slowly lowered the phone from my ear as Ian clicked off. The six men around me were looking slightly nervous. I was too. Honestly, I knew I was a good cop and a dirty fighter in a brawl but really? These goofballs and me, not a chance we could take down McGarrett and his team.

"So, with that change of plan." One of the guys next to me muttered. "What do we do?"

The smartass leader snorted. "We take down Five-0 like boss told us to."

I almost laughed at his cockiness. "Ain't no way you're doing that."

"And why not."

"Because they ain't the governor's task force for nothing."

Smartass chuckled. "Scared of 'em, Grover?"

I sighed and shrugged. Internally, I was freaking out. I couldn't take them down. I wasn't prepared, mentally or physically. Hell, Kono could probably pin me in one move because she's really badass and also because I didn't have it in me to fight back. Even thinking it made me feel guilty. Both for not having the guts to fight for my daughter's freedom, and thinking that I could really throw a non sparring punch at one of my friends. Thinking of other possible solutions turned up pointless. I watched the exchange between the security guard at the gate and one of the fake SWAT members and felt sick to my stomach. I took a deep breath as the airplane and the two government issue SUVs came into view. My eyes wandered and landed on the four figures standing by a black transport van and I, not that I would ever admit it, became a little intimidated by the former SEAL. Probably for the first time in my life, I closely physically examined the Five-0 team. I noted many similar traits between them, nice hair, sharp eyes, oh and, you know, extremely defined muscles and quick reflexes. I hopped out of the truck with my gun held tightly to my side. Immediately, the guys raised their guns.

"Hands up!" Smartass yelled, aiming his gun at McGarrett's head.

"Hey! Hey!" the SEAL shouted, obviously taken off guard. Steve turned to look incredulously at me, even as he raised his hands and dropped his gun. "What is going on, Lou?"

I clenched my jaw but glanced at him guiltily. My hands shook and I clutched my weapon tighter.

"I'm sorry."

All hell broke loose. Steve swung his elbow back and knocked out Smartass in one fell swoop. This was like a light switch for the rest of Five-0 and they all sprang into motion. Kono roundhoused the guy holding Chin then hit the deck hard to avoid the bullet that planted itself a second later in the guy's skull from Steve's gun. Danny knocked two of them together and sent them both crashing down to the floor, out for the count. When all six were down for the count, eight eyes rested heavily on me. I stubbornly kept my gun raised at them, as if it would magically make them collapse and handcuff themselves. I didn't know whether to feel good or disturbed by the wariness they were displaying.

"Lou?!" Steve demanded cautiously. "Would you like to explain to me what the hell just happened?"

Danny tilted his head and focused his gaze on me. I knew he was profiling me. "This, this I would like to hear. Please, go ahead."

I firmly kept my mouth shut if only to make sure I didn't break down sobbing right then and there. But the more I felt the weight of their stares, the more I realized how hopeless this was. They were Five-0. The freaking government taskforce. There was no way I would get my daughter back alive…

"Lou, is everything okay?" Kono's soft soothing voice and her arm laying across my hunched shoulders broke my already wavering resolve. I dropped my gun and heard it clatter to the concrete as I pathetically turned into the younger woman and cried. My heart ached with pain worse than any bullet wound, the agony ripping and tearing my heart into sheds. I practically dragged Kono down with me as I fell to my knees in despair.

"He… h-has my daughter!" I wailed against Kono's vest. Her arms tightened around me.

"Who has your daughter?" Chin asked.

I nearly choked as his name passed my lips again. "Ian Wright."

"Wait, the annoying twat who nearly crashed a plane carrying 300 people?" Danny said questioningly.

I muttered incomprehensible words as I tried to explain to them the money and the calls and Ian's demands in one breath.

"Hey, deep breaths Lou." Steve ordered. I focused on my breathing. As my mind became a little clearer, I was grateful that Kono pulled away and stood off to the side while Steve helped me to my feet. I have to admit, my pride was bruised after that breakdown but I did feel a little more in control of myself.

"What happened, from the beginning."

Steve looked at me with an unreadable expression. I had explained what had happened over the last day in one rushed sentence and their reactions...were more than a little lacking, especially when I got to the part about Ian demanding them as well as 100 million dollars. Steve glanced at the plane and at the pilot who had just walked off into the main building.

"I know, it's ridiculous. But I need my daughter back. If I don't drop you guys and the 100 million in half an hour, Samantha is dead!"

Steve continued to look at me with a piercing blue stare. He stood from where he was sitting on the hood of an SUV and stood directly in front of me. Then, he did something completely unexpected. He slowly got down onto his knees.

"What are you doing, McGarrett?" I questioned, even though the answer was pretty clear. Steve's eyes never left mine as he unclipped his handcuffs and placed them in front of me.

"Go ahead."

"Steve, I can't… I can't do this to you."

"Then do it to us first." Chin said firmly. He knelt down next to Steve and cuffed his wrists before Steve did the same to him. Kono and Danny looked up at me, their wrists already cuffed behind them. I gaped. These people weren't a new kind of cop. These humans were an entirely new subsection of our species. I looked at them, their faces accepting and soft. My guilt didn't disappear but the nagging voice in my head chanting my daughter's name won out.

'For Samantha. Your daughter. For Samantha.'

I slowly unloaded my gun. Then, gripping it tightly, I quickly smashed it across Danny's head. I winced, as did the rest of the team, as he hit the runway, unconscious.

'Samantha. Samantha. Samantha.'

My hand shook as I repeated the move on Kono. Her head snapping back and her body slamming into the concrete would be forever engrained in my head. Tears brimmed at the corners of my eyes.

'What is this? You can stop. Apologize and bring them to the hospital.'

Chin fell next. I didn't really know what to feel anymore. I was bringing my daughter home. But these selfless people were giving themselves up and I was just a pawn in Ian's grand scheme. My friends. What the heck was the matter with me.

'No. No. Damn you, Ian!'

"Don't tell Samantha about this." Steve said, looking up at me. His blue eyes were still calm but I saw the troubled look deep within them as well and the subtle, pained glances he sent to his fallen teammates. "She'll be traumatized and scared, and she doesn't need to know what it took to gain her freedom. Okay? Promise me you won't tell her."

"I-i promise, Steve." I stuttered like a fool.

Steve nodded to me.Tears streamed from my eyes as he hit the asphalt. I gently lifted each of them into the back of the van beside the cash. I angrily whipped out my phone and dialed my daughter's number.

"It's done!" I barked into the phone. Ian sounded like he was chewing on something.

"Good. One of my men will be driving a black van down Kalakaua Avenue. Stop in the middle of the highway. You will switch cars with him. Your daughter will be in the back of the van. Pleasure doing business with you."

He hung up. I gritted my teeth as I shut the van doors forcefully and got into the driver's seat.

Governor's POV

"Governor Dennings?"

I glanced up from my paperwork. My assistant was standing with a troubled look on her face.

"Yes, Alicia?"

"I just received a call from Jake Lenard, the pilot that was supposed to fly the drug money out. He said that the van holding the money, the cash and your task force, is missing. A SWAT vehicle was found abandoned at the scene as well as six impostors. Two dead, four unconscious."

I paused. There was something reeking of fish.

"Can you contact any of them?"

"No. But… the airfield wants you to see this surveillance footage."

In the eight minutes that followed, I saw my task force being ambushed, then easily take out six armed men, my chief of police sobbing like a baby into the shoulder of an officer, Five-0 surrendering to Grover, getting knocked out, and flat out disappearing along with 100 million dollars.

"Get roadblocks set up. Have all HPD and SWAT units out there hunting down that van! Tell them it's top priority!"

Lou's POV

I headed down the road, my guilt building by each tire turn. Four of my closest friends were unconscious in the back of this van and suddenly, I turned into the driver of a getaway car. The phone on the seat beside me rang.

"What?" I hissed venomously.

"Change of plans. Take a left. There'll be an old factory warehouse at the end of the road, hidden by a chain fence and a couple crates. Your daughter will be in a van there. Drop off yours and you can leave with your kid."

The tires screeched as I stepped harder on the gas pedal. Suddenly, I saw a parade of HPD cruisers in front of me, right before the turn. I grimaced and floored it. The shouts to get out of the way came just in time as I plowed through the roadblocks. I sharply turned around the corner. I heard sirens behind me but they were blocked too. I reached the warehouse. There was a van and three armed men standing beside it. I didn't park, leaping out of the van and throwing open the back of the other one. I heard the other men doing the same. Relief flooded my entire body when my daughter's scared, frightened, beautiful brown eyes met mine. I gently took the duct tape off of her wrists and ankles, and then her mouth. She threw her arms around me and I held her tightly, kissing her hair and whispering reassurances in her ear.

"Daddy!" she sobbed. I just held her.

"I'm here baby."

"Let's go boys!"

I tried to ignore the sickening pit in my stomach as the van disappeared out of sight from the back alleyway. Less than ten seconds later, at least ten government issue SUVs appeared, surrounding me. Samantha whimpered and held tighter to my torso.

"Captain!"

I winced. The Governor. In all of my panic, I didn't realize how much trouble I'd be in. I'd do it again in a heartbeat if it meant my daughter would live, but, it wouldn't be any easier.

"What the hell were you thinking? What the hell were you doing?" Governor Dennings demanded. I saw his eyes soften when he saw Samantha.

"He had my daughter, Governor. I'm not sorry for what I did."

Samantha looked up at me, her eyes red and bloodshot. "What did...y-you do, D-Daddy?"

Governor Dennings walked over and leaned close to my ear. "Go home, get her freshened up, then get to my office."

I sat in a chair facing the Governor of Hawaii. He was pacing behind his desk.

"You are going to find Steven McGarrett, Daniel Williams, Chin Ho Kelly and Kono Kalakaua. You are going to find them because you don't know the half of what they do. They have so much information about the United States, from immigration and security to agriculture and economy. If someone finds out a way to get the information out of them, the USA is done for, you hear me? I'm only assigning you to this, Captain because of your history. When they are found, I expect you to resign."

I nodded. "Yes, Governor."

"Start right away."

"Lou!" my wife was...less than pleased. I knew I had to come clean to her. There was no other way to explain to her what had happened.

"He had her, Renee." I took a deep breath. "Look, I've contacted some of Five-0's friends and they've agreed to look into it. I'm heading to Los Angeles tomorrow. HPD has a protective unit outside the house. Please, honey."

"I know, Lou." Renee sighed. "We're forever in Five-0's debt. They saved our daughter. Go. Find them. I want to thank them, then hit them myself."

I smiled a little. "Thank you, honey."

I kissed her on the cheek then resumed packing.

Hotch's POV

"We head out tonight."

Garcia still had her mouth open in a horrified gasp. I understood. In a split second, her horror turned into anger.

"My Hawaiian babies and boss man are too selfless." she griped, her hand tightening around the colourful rainbkw troll pen. "They are so stupid."

JJ shook her head. "They did what they felt was right, Garcia."

"JJ's right. I mean, a kid was in danger." Morgan said, placing a hand on our blond analyst's.

"Based on previous experiences, the likelihood of them taking this action is 113.67%." Reid smiled. I gave him a slight smile in return. His way of coping with stress was rattling off statistics.

"Why are we going to Los Angeles and not Hawaii?" Emily frowned.

"One of their, uh, friends, Lou Grover is flying there now to meet us and another team. NCIS apparently." I explained. I knew it was vague but I wasn't too sure what we were going to do anyways.

"Let's go. The sooner we can find our missing martyrs, the sooner we can give them a good talking to."


	2. chapter 2

Hotch's POV

I took a deep calming breath as the plane landed in Los Angeles a day later. Five people had exited the main building. A large, well built, dark skinned man and a smaller light skinned man came up first, followed by another dark skinned man, a tall woman and a shaggy haired man.

"Hi, Aaron Hotchner, BAU. This is my team, Jennifer Jareau, Spencer Reid, Emily Prentiss, David Rossi, Derek Morgan and Penelope Garcia."

The lighter skinned man nodded, shaking my outstretched hand. "I'm Agent G. Callen, this is my partner Agent Sam Hanna, this is Agent Kensi Blye and her partner Detective Marty Deeks. NCIS."

"I'm, uh, Captain Lou Grover. HPD."

I made sure my face remained impassive. He was the man half, more like totally, responsible for the disappearance of four of my personal closest friends. Evidently, I failed, because he glanced tentatively into my eyes and instantly flinched before looking away. I couldn't help but profile him a little. It was pretty clear that he was used to being in a position of authority but the trauma of having to knock four people unconscious must have taken a good bit of his bravado. I saw the security footage but tried to make my own opinion of him anyways.

"We're all here to find Steve, Danny, Chin and Kono." Sam said, probably noticing the slight, awkward air between our three groups. "Whatever the cause."

I nodded. "Why don't you tell us what happened leading up to the… event, Captain?"

Grover's mouth twitched, and his forehead became marred eith worried lines, unpleasant memories probably stirring in his mind. As I listened patiently to his explanation, my indignance grew.

"We should-"

"I think-"

"There's a-"

I paused. There was a short, uncomfortable silence as we glanced at each other, unsure of how to proceed.

"How about we show you our HQ?"

Steve's POV

I blinked groggily. A bright light shone directly above me, shrouding the rest of the room in darkness. Although, with the pounding in my skull and blurry vision, really, there could be a barrel of a gun in my face and I would have absolutely no clue. Thinking hard, I remembered talking to Grover but then everything went black. I heard the rattle of chains above my head and groaned internally. My hands were shackled. For a moment, a limp Jenna materialized in the far corner and the haunting pain of Wo Fat's taser stung my stomach. When they disappeared, my vision had cleared and I felt a little less dizzy. Suddenly, everything came flooding back. My team.

"Danny!" I shouted into the darkness. "Chin? Kono?"

"Mr. McGarrett. No need to yell." I eyed the tall man who had just stepped out of the darkness in front of me. I looked at him suspiciously. This wasn't Ian Wright.

He chuckled, a sound I likened to a hyena cackling. "Let me catch you up here. I am Landon Boyd. According to your friends in Los Angeles at least. I just bought you and your team from Ian Wright for oh… 900 million dollars. And I paid that not to have your incessant screaming blow out my sensitive eardrums."

900 million dollars? _Bought_? What the hell was going on?

"But, to I have your teammates under surveillance. You try _anything_ , anything at all and nothing pleasant happens to them. Okay?" he smiled with a sickly sweet tone. I bristled but said nothing. I wasn't putting my team in any more danger than they already were in. They were here because of me. "Huh. I thought you would see reason. Though, I admit, I was expecting a bigger fight. You must really care about your team don't you."

I just gave him the best aneurysm face I could muster.

"No?" he mused. "Ben. Bring in the girl."

My pulse sped up slightly. I had a bad feeling about this entire set up. He bought us. Hoping to accomplish what? A black haired man brought in a still unconscious Kono. Ben drew her up and Landon cuffed her wrists to a set of chains beside me.

"What do you want." I said calmly. I knew he wanted me to care that Kono was beside me. I did care, very much in fact, but I didn't want this sob to know that.

Landon glanced deep into my eyes, then to Kono. "Ben, bring the others as well. See if the SEAL will flinch then." he leaned in close to my face. The rat smelled like my sister's perfume. "What I want, McGarrett. Is to find out what makes Five-0 tick. What makes you so angry, so protective, that you will do what I say."

Three days earlier...

Hotch's POV

I walked into the impressive old style building. The entire setup radiated professionalism.

"I assume you are the team from Oahu and DC."

I glanced down at a small woman standing in front of me. Her posture and demeanor practically demanded authority and respect even with her short stature. She gently pushed her glasses up higher on her nose and stared at all of us, her gaze not exactly cold, but definitely very calculating.

"Yes they are, Hetty." Callen said. "This is Henrietta Lange, head of house here."

"Pleasure to meet you." I stood straighter and shook her tiny hand. I wanted her to take us seriously, and made sure to stare directly into her eyes as I introduced my team.

"Hmm. Agent Hotchner, it's a pleasure as well. You and your team will be a great asset to finding our missing ones."

She turned to Grover. "And you are the representative from Hawaii, yes?"

"Captain Lou Grover, ma'am."

Her expression didn't change but I saw the subtle way she closed her hands behind her back and began clenching and unclenching her fist as her jaw twitched.

"I see. Well. Let's figure out who has them and go from there." Hetty said without skipping a beat. "Chop chop."

I followed the NCIS team up the stairs and into a large technical room. Two brunettes were stationed at a computer, both with terse, stressed expressions.

"Landon Boyd." The man said as soon as we walked in. The smaller woman typed some things on a tablet and a large picture of a sharp faced man, Landon Boyd, presumably, appeared on a large screen.

"This is Eric and Nell." Sam introduced quickly, his interest obviously much more focused on the person on the screen. I too, turned to look at the middle aged sandy haired man on the screen.

"Billionaire. Inherited daddy's business. He has a mile long rap sheet, and he's a rounder, petty theft, drug trafficking, human trafficking, possession of a federal issue weapon, assault… and rape." Nell began, trailing off at the end with a worried tone drop. I frowned deeply at the deranged, almost empty look in the man's heavily lidded sapphire eyes. No one would be able to stop me from ripping him apart if he touched a single hair on Kono's head. From the grunts and hisses of curses around the room from practically every single other agent, I knew I wouldn't be alone.

"Okay so what's our connection to Wright?" Kensi asked.

"20 phone calls in two days, last one happening about twelve hours ago." Eric said, as numerous phone calls and IP addresses appeared. 12 hours. About when Five-0 was taken. I scrutinized the addresses.

"Ian was a tech genius, no way those IP addresses are real." Rossi pointed out.

Eric nodded. "You're right. They're all fake. There's some out in Waimanalo, some in Antarctica while others are in the middle of the ocean. However, I did triangulate the location of the responses to be this location." A small red dot appeared on a map of Los Angeles. "My guess-"

Deeks clapped once. "Let's move!"

Three days later... Steve's POV

As Chin and Danny were dragged in and chained up, Kono finally groaned and began to come to. Landon was sitting in a chair, chewing on a Twizzler on the other side of the room.

"Boss?" Kono murmured, her eyes slightly glazed over. I looked over at her, silently trying to convey my plan. Unfortunately, she had heard none of what had been said before. I decided to be really stupid. Danny would definitely give me a verbal beating over this entire plan once we got out of here...

"What makes you mad?"

Kono's brow furrowed, her confusion written on her face. "What…"

I could tell her mind was probably still fuzzy but I hoped she would play along. "Officer. Just answer the question. Do not second guess your superiors."

Her brown eyes were still bewildered. "I...I'm sorry, Commander."

"Though we are out of the workplace, I expect professionalism." I moved my eyes urgently to the highly attentive Boyd. Luckily, Kono's brown eyes had started to clear and she subtly nodded to me. "Don't let it happen again, Officer."

"I won't, Commander." she averted her eyes. "Injustice makes me tick, sir."

"How so."

"When someone who did no wrong gets punished instead of the real criminal."

"Strong answer, Officer."

"Thank you, sir."

I mentally thanked Kono for saying boss in the beginning. If she had said Steve, it definitely would've been hard to pass off the "highly professional, don't care other than a colleague" persona. My hope? Boyd would drop ohana as our weakness.

"Good show, Commander, Officer. Quite entertaining." Landon applauded. I cringed internally.

Hotch's POV

I fingered the trigger of my gun and clicked the safety off. Our formation around the old apartment complex was odd and unorganized, to say the least. My team was positioned hastily around all of the building's exits, Callen's team was strewn periodically throughout the 10 floors since Eric was only able to give us a building and who knew what Grover was doing.

"Floor seven! Room 7C!" Sam suddenly shouted through the comm set. Luckily for us, there were only three exits, so I moved in while JJ stayed by the door. I heard Reid come up on my right and place a hand on my shoulder. I bolted up the steps and reached the seventh floor quickly. Reid was slightly out of breath behind me. I motioned with my fingers, three two one, then opened the door.7-C was right in front of us. Callen and Sam ran up to us, pressed against the wall while Kensi and Deeks mirrored on the other side. They nodded to me and I quickly kicked the door down. We flooded the small room. I saw Grover on the ground, holding his head and moved towards him.

"What happened." I said flatly, gently prodding the head wound. The captain looked away slightly.

"I was looking around when Landon came in. I," I almost missed the miniscule pause between his words, "dropped my comm before I could tell you...guys."

Reid fingered the deactivated comm set he had just pulled from the holster of Grover's gun.

"What the hell." Kensi deadpanned, her tone flat, yet full of barely concealed anger.

"We're working together on this. Remember, hotshot?" Sam snapped sharply. Grover didn't meet anyone's eyes.

"We're working to get our friends back!" Callen growled. "You're just working to get your reputation back! Don't think the governor didn't tell us about how he expects you to resign after you find them!"

"Is this what this is to you?" Reid asked incredulously, eyes widened. I winced at the innocently betrayed look that glimmered in my youngest agent's eyes."A chance to prove yourself to the governor?"

"You arrogant, self serving bastard." Deeks muttered, his eyes dark with fury.

"They're some of our closest friends!" Kensi hissed. "And all you care about is your job, not their safety!"

Finally, I stood. I waited until he met my eyes.

"You either work with us to bring Steve, Danny, Kono and Chin back safely." I paused, letting the tension set heavily in the room. "Or you turn tail and slink back to Oahu like the coward you've proven yourself as."

Callen's POV

The room went silent, all of us brooding. I was beyond livid. Here we were, 11 people just trying to get part of their ohana back, and that little self serving prick decides, hey, this would be a damn good opportunity to impress Governor Dennings. Grover got up and slowly walked out of the room, head held low. I crossed my arms. The door suddenly opened again, and the rest of Hotch's team entered.

"How did Boyd escape?" JJ asked breathily, the other were also slightly winded. Running up all the flights of stairs, I presume. "We were on all the exits and no one left or entered."

"Garbage chute." Reid said faintly from the back room. He emerged. "Goes straight into a dumpster on the far side in the building away from all the exits."

Derek sighed deeply. "Okay, so Landon gets away. Let's clean out this place. He wasn't expecting an ambush by Grover so he probably just took off."

I nodded. We all dispersed, snapping on gloves and beginning to turn couch cushions, open closets and tapping on walls, trying to find a secret room. I opened a kitchen drawer and chuckled slightly.

"Hey, Hotch." I called. He came over with a curious expression. "Take a look."

"Good find."

Later, we were all standing around the table back at HQ.

"50 million dollars."

Eric turned around dramatically. I glanced at Penelope. She was hovering over a computer, tapping away furiously. "Coincidence? I think not."

Nell clutched the tablet in her hands. "We've just began to decipher the code protecting the Tyres."

"The what?"

"Basically," I looked over at the brightly coloured tech analyst. She hadn't looked away from the screen but continued, "it's a safe, anonymous texting system for underground smugglers, traffickers and other baddies. Now, the code on this is pretty tough but nothing that I can't handle. And this… should just about… do it!"

Lines and lines of code flew across our screen before a few lines of text appeared.

"Got Five-0 merch." Kensi read the first line, a note of confusion in her tone. "Want in?"

"BSa?" Deeks said, his brows furrowing. I rolled my eyes.

"Blood samples."

"Then, a few hours later, I'm in. How much…?" Emily frowned. "What do they mean by that…"

The door opened. Our heads all snapped to the door where Grover was running in. "He's selling them."

"Selling them." Deeks repeated.

Garcia gasped suddenly. "Oh my sweet cheese. He's right. He's selling my babies."

I looked at the screen in horror. New lines of text slowly appeared.

"900 million. Cash."

"Deal. Morimoto Marina. One day. 50 million for bsa."

No one moved, no one even breathed.

"900 million dollars." Reid whispered.

"One day until the transaction of fifty million. Three until Five-0 is traded. When was this sent?" I asked.

"Uh…" Garcia rapidly hit keys before replying. "12:30 pm."

"It's 11." Grover butted in. I glanced at him. "Morimoto Marina is only about an hour's flight from here."

"If we move now, we might be able to catch the buyer." Hotchner said, beginning to move towards the door. Suddenly, my phone rang. It was an unknown number.

"Hello?" I asked. There was Darth Vader like breathing in the background.

"Put me on speaker. Your fellow agents might want to hear this."

I complied, looking pointedly at all our tech geniuses. A giant map popped up on the screen and red lines from different cells towers began streaming across the US. We all crowded around the table.

"I see you have found my Tyre conversation and my fifty million. Quite impressive."

"Who are you?" Grover demanded.

"No need to be snappy, Captain. Once Wright hands over your friends, they will be in safe hands."

"The site is anonymous." Emily suddenly said. "How do you mean know who is selling them to you?"

"Ian Wright is just a boy, Agent Prentiss. Meanwhile, I'm quite...seasoned, if you will. And by the way, Landon Boyd is one of my favourite aliases."

"What do you want?" Sam questioned, trying to buy our techies some time.

"I'm here to offer you all a deal, Agent Hanna. If you can find me a team of equal value, I will gladly release your friends. However, if not, you can scrape together 900 million and they're yours again. And if you aren't able to do that… you won't see them for… well until they're no longer with us. You have exactly three days, agents. Take it or leave it. Ciao."

The line clicked. I glanced at the people around me.

"How do we judge the value of a team?" Nell frowned.

"Five-0 has a few… contacts. On the island that could help us with that." Grover piped up. The rest of us exchanged wary looks. When Hotch let out a small resigned sigh and walked out of the room, we all followed. I guess we were going to Hawaii.

Hawaii. Again. Can't say I didn't miss the pineapples and coconuts. But without my four amigos to greet me… it didn't feel like the same place. I had just gotten off the plane when I felt something was wrong. Sure enough, I was right. We were suddenly ambushed by six black SUV'S. Adam suddenly appeared out of the first one with an enraged expression. Tons and tons of men poured out of the cars and surrounded Grover, guns raised.

"How dare you?" Adam roared, angrily striding towards Grover. "You just gave my fiance's life into the hands of a complete stranger?"

Adam punched Grover across the face. A part of me wanted to stop him. But a larger part had wanted to do just that. After the man had begun to rearrange Grover's ribs, I finally stepped in.

"Adam." I said reluctantly. He turned around, panting. His brown eyes bore anger and confusion.

"This bonehead just gave up your friends' lives."

"I know. But beating the crap outta him isn't helping us find them."

"Hey, Adam," JJ suddenly said, walking up to him, as if there wasn't a bloody beaten pulp sitting in front of the man. "Do you know a Landon Boyd?"

Adam rubbed his bruised knuckles. "Uh, he might have been someone my father knew. Why?"

"It's' an alias for the man who just bought Five-0." Hotchner elaborated seriously.

Adam's eyes widened in shock. "Sorry, did you say, bought?"

"You wouldn't happen to have 900 million dollars, would you?" Derek asked. The sarcasm in his voice was masked by concern and a little bit of hope.

"900...mill-I uh, no." Adam spluttered.

Grover got up slowly, holding his stomach. "If you don't mind… We have to get to HQ."

I walked into the familiar building, with a feeling of bittersweet nostalgia. I stepped into the bullpen, looking closely at the large logo on the floor.

"Do any of you know the password to get into the main computer?" Grover asked quietly. I glanced over to the man. Hotch glanced at me before walking over and typing in the code. The Five-0 logo appeared on the screen.

"Garcia, you stay here and do a full background check on Landon Boyd, try to find out what his real identity is." Hotch ordered. "Grover. Who is the contact that can calculate how much a team is worth?"

"His name is Sang Min." Grover pulled up a picture of a long haired Asian man. "He's in Halawa prison. Solitary confinement cell 48A."


	3. chapter 3

The man sauntered confidently up to us, as if already judging.

"Friends of McGarrett." he sniffed haughtily. He sat down with a sigh, placing his cuffed hands on the table. "What are you doing here."

"We need you to assess how much our respective teams are worth." I bit the bullet.

Sang Min glanced at me with a slightly disgusted expression. "Huh. What's in it for me?"

"Do you care for them at all?" JJ asked, stepping up to him. I watched him carefully. I had read into his history. He was a notorious pervert and JJ was not bad to look at. Sure enough, he eyed her.

"You remind me of spicy." he mused.

"Spicy?" I muttered to Sam. He shrugged.

"Alright. Maybe I care a little. What's it to you feds?"

"Grover handed them over to Ian Wright, handcuffed and unconscious. They were just sold to someone under the alias Landon Boyd for 900 million dollars." Derek spat as he crossed his arms.

Sang Min's eyes widened slightly. He leaned back in his chair as he inspected us. "You are?"

"Who?" I asked. He looked at me.

"The man on the moon. Of course you, egghead."

I tilted my head. I had been called worse. "NCIS. Special Ops."

His eyes seemed to be a lot more focused as he scanned each member of my team.

"I'd say… 500 million, tops. Federal schemderal, special operations or not, your team ain't worth half of McGarrett's task force. They got too much info and resources. And you."

"Behavioural analysis unit. FBI."

"Huh. For the amount of people...200 million. Skill set… Probably 300 million. About 400 or 450 million. That's pushing it."

"I feel like I should be more offended." Deeks muttered. I snorted.

Sang Min looked deep into my eyes as the door buzzed and a guard poked his head in. "When you find McGarrett, tell him I expect a favour for helping you guys out, huh?"

"Will do." Sam responded. The guard escorted the man out of the room and we all filed out.

"What do we do now?" Reid sighed in defeat. "There's no way to increase the value of our teams according to the value system Sang Min judged us by."

"There might be…"

"I'm afraid, that's not possible." Governor Dennings shook his head. "Even if it is just a ploy, it'll take weeks to get the approval from the federal government. We all could lose our jobs if word gets out that you have highly confidential information about the United States without proper permission from the President and the Senate. And your teams aren't even under my jurisdiction Agent Hotchner and Agent Callen."

Hotch looked calmly at the Governor. "And how does losing your entire federal task force make you look in the eyes of the President and his Senate? What about the fact that it was your self appointed Chief of Police who handed them over to a sociopath in the first place? Who allowed his personal life to conflict his sworn duty to protect the citizens of the United States and help his colleagues to do so as well? Thanks to his actions, a technological genius who has already proved to have no regard for human life now has a highly trained task force that once he learns how to control, will be ten times as destructive as any threat you've ever faced before. And when they start digging, trying to find the root cause of a national disaster, they'll come back to you."

I crossed my arms and leaned my weight onto one leg, staring at the governor intently. The muscles of his jaw twitched and his eyes calculated Hotch severely, I could see the gears whirring in his mind. Hotch stayed stoic, his expression one of carefully chosen detached curiosity or neutrality. There was a long, tense silence before the Governor spoke again.

"If what this, Sang Min said was true, the information that Five-0 has not spent weeks encrypting with firewalls and who knows what other codes, would only boost the value of your teams up by about 9 or 10 million." Governor Dennings sighed reluctantly. "But I will give the paperwork a code red."

We all stood tersely around Five 0's main computer. "What if both of our teams joined in for the trade?" Garcia suggested.

Hotch and I shook our heads at the same time. I spoke first.

"Absolutely not. Even if it would get them back, we'd be sacrificing way more people and Steve, Danny, Chin and Kono would all beat the hell outta us when they found out."

Hotch nodded. "We can't trust this man. Why would he be willing to trade quite possibly the best federal team in the United States?"

"Especially when money doesn't seem to be a big deal for him." Rossi mused.

"So what's our move?" Deeks asked.

I met Hotch's eyes. The resignation and defeat I registered in his practically emotionless face was a dead giveaway.

"We can't just give up!" Emily said firmly. "If we give ourselves up, we could overpower them and they could lead us to Steve and them."

"That has too many probabilities, Emily. Too many factors we can't control and can't risk to not control."

"But she's right. We can't give up on them. They never gave up on us." Reid said firmly. "Even when the odds were stacked against them like this. And there were four of them! There are 12 of us."

"Remember when they literally went into a terrorist getup without backup to save your ass, G?" Sam agreed with the others. "In a place crawling with guards and trained assassins? Hell, Danny took a bullet for you."

"We're not giving up on them." I said firmly.

"Callen is right." Hotch nodded. "We just have to wait for them to make the first move. Make them make a mistake."

Suddenly, JJ's phone rang. Her eyes widened at the caller id.

"Who is it?" Kensi asked.

JJ's brow furrowed. "It's Grace."

I mentally punched myself. In all of this, I didn't even think about their families. My anger boiled up anew. And I'll bet Grover didn't either as his eyes widened in panic and sweat beaded on his forehead.

"Hi Grace…" JJ began. Her expression remained calm but her blue eyes were serious. "Your dad is fine." Then, the agent turned to us. "Oh my gosh. Gracie… We'll be right over."

"What is it, JJ?" Emily asked worriedly. My own gut clenched.

JJ shook her head gravely. "The security footage was leaked. The whole world knows what happened. Grace saw the whole thing. And she was supposed to be picked up from school by Danny today. I'll go and get her."

I sighed and placed my head down in my hands. This week could not get any worse.

Grace arrived at headquarters with tears streaming down her face. I quickly swiped away the surveillance footage of the scene before she and JJ got in the door. Grover took a deep shaky breath. Sure enough, Grace took one look at him and she stiffened with anger.

"How could you do this?" She screamed, voice raw with pain and betrayal. "How could you?!"

"My little girl…" I heard Grover choke out quietly. I was hit with a flood of guilt. As much as my heart and mind wanted someone, anyone to blame, I couldn't blame Grover anymore. As I watched Grace burst into a new bout of tears, I saw Grover's daughter instead, scared and terrified, locked in a dog cage with Ian standing over her with that damned smirk on his face.

"Hey, honey…" Garcia said softly. Grace practically leapt into the tech analyst's arms, sobbing. Everyone's face fell. My resolve solidified. We had to get them back, if not for their sake, but for Grace's.

"What performance." I hissed. Landon still had that infuriating smirk on his face. I was beginning to think he had that surgically done. No one's cheek muscles could possibly hold that position for that long. I internally smacked myself. I was thinking too much like my partner for my own good. I turned my attention back on our captor.

"You can't fool me." He suddenly took out a taser rod and held it threateningly over Kono's neck. Her breath hitched slightly but her brown eyes were firm in their message. Don't. React. Landon narrowed his eyes at my lack of response.

"Fine. Did you really think I didn't know? I already know what makes you obedient. A woman named… Catherine Rollins. And you, officer. A man named Adam Noshimuri. Then, a little Sarah for the Lieutenant and a Grace for the detective." Landon paused. "But of course, I can just take them out and you won't care either way."

I weighed my options.

"What do you want from us."

I didn't think it was possible, but Landon's smirk expanded more. I swear his cheeks were going to tear.

"I thought so." Landon said triumphantly. I could tell Kono wanted to hit me. Very hard.

Landon threw the taser rod across the room and picked up a folder instead. He motioned for his men to take my team from the room. When they were gone, Landon opened the folder and took out a small photo.

"Look familiar, Mr. McGarrett?"

I peered at the tiny face in the picture.

"Senator Marks."

"Correct. Now, as you probably has heard, he makes huge bucks, millions of dollars, by making illegal slush funds for his other corrupt colleagues. I want you four to go and well, to put it frankly, end him."

"I will not be committing murder!"

"I'm a reasonable man, Commander. So I'm giving you one warning. If you won't comply with my orders, then I will commit murder. In fact, I'll murder Ms. Rollins first, right in front of you." I glared at Landon with a feral expression. He continued, undeterred. "And then, I'll kill your team, slowly, make you hear every single one of their screams before I release you and make you forever live with the guilt. Now. I'm going to unchain you. There will be a room with weapons and body armour for your assignment. Try anything, anything at all and my men have orders to shoot to kill, regardless of collateral damage. Do you understand."


End file.
